Illegal dumping, dog attack legislation and wildlife road strikes will be top of Hume council’s agenda at the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) state council meeting later this year.
Hume council will raise five motions at the October 10 state council to advocate for issues it considers to be of importance to the Hume community.
Cr Karen Sherry, who is Hume’s MAV delegate, said the motions proposed by council were important for its advocacy work and affected the other outer suburban municipalities in the northern suburbs.
Council will ask the MAV to call on the state government to review the penalty amounts assigned to littering and dumping offences under the Environmental Protection Act and to establish a mechanism to allow council to set penalty amounts which reflect the community’s local circumstances.
It will also ask the state council to back the establishment of a taskforce to address illegal dumping in growth areas.
As reported by Star Weekly, council’s clean-up costs for illegal dumping and littering is about $5 million annually.
The MAV will also be asked to call on the state government to amend the Domestic Animals Act to provide council authorised officers with a clear power of entry onto residential land where there is a reasonable belief that a dog involved in a serious attack is being kept at that location.
This motion is in response to dog attacks in Sunbury in August 2024, in which three dogs escaped a property and attacked multiple victims on consecutive days.
As reported by Star Weekly, a council review of the incidents found that council officers acted appropriately in their management of the attacks. However, their ability to respond to the emergency was constrained by the limited powers of entry available to these officers under the Domestic Animals Act, and the need to rely on police assistance in urgent situations.
Council will also advocate for the development of a kangaroo management strategy to address wildlife road strikes, with Hume a hotspot for collisions between vehicles and kangaroos.
The state council will also be asked to support a bid for greater protections for property purchasers in transactions and a reduction in WorkCover premiums.
